insurance linked securities (ILS) News

ILS Market Could Bear 20% of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Marie Loss: A.M. Best

The insurance-linked securities (ILS) market potentially could bear up 20 percent of the insured losses generated by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Marie, according to an A.M. Best report. These three hurricanes during a two-month period in 2017 now serve as …

ILS Issuance in H1 Tops $7B, Reflecting Capital Markets’ Re/Insurance Appetite: Swiss Re

The first half of 2018 aptly demonstrated that the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market has an undiminished appetite to provide re/insurance protection – despite last year’s expensive insured natural catastrophe losses, according to Swiss Re Institute’s sigma publication While not quite …

Extraordinary Re’s Extraordinary Idea for Trading Insurance Risks Like Stocks

Imagine there’s a way for institutional investors to trade insurance risks much like they trade stocks. Well, imagine no more. A new and unique reinsurer, Extraordinary Re, has hit upon the novel idea of creating a trading platform run by …

Catastrophe Bonds – A to Z

A reader of this publication, the president of an insurance agency, recently wrote to say he kept hearing about catastrophe bonds but had little knowledge of what they were. He was curious if these instruments would replace traditional reinsurance and …

Casualty: The Next ILS Frontier?

Executive Summary: While progress has been made in the development of casualty insurance-linked securities (ILS), there still is significant work to do, says Aaron C. Koch of Milliman, who discusses some of the key structural and product design questions that …

Willis Towers Watson Moves ILS from Securities to Reinsurance Unit

Willis Towers Watson is making changes to its insurance linked securities (ILS) business. The ILS business, which was previously part of the its securities business unit, will be integrated into Willis Re. William Dubinsky will continue to lead the ILS …

Reinsurance Capacity Remains Abundant for Mid-Year Renewals: Aon Benfield

Global reinsurer capital continued to rise in 2017, despite the US$136 billion in insured losses from natural catastrophes last year, according to a reinsurance market report published by Aon Benfield. Indeed, capital levels stood at US$605 billion at Dec. 31, …

FEMA to Issue First Catastrophe Bond for Flood Insurance Program

In another step shifting risk to private markets, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said it intends to secure additional reinsurance for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through issuance of a catastrophe bond. FEMA began purchasing private reinsurance in …

April Reinsurance Renewals Continue Flat Pricing Seen in January: Willis Re Report

Reinsurance buyers were able to renew loss-free programs at broadly flat pricing levels during the April 1 renewals – continuing the trend seen at the January renewals, according to a Willis Re report. Pricing was dampened by the continued amounts …

UK Invests in Natural Disaster Hedge Fund Focused on Insurance for Developing Nations

Britain is backing a hedge fund that aims to raise $200 million to give developing countries access to climate risk insurance. Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) is investing 25 million pounds ($35 million) over a 20-year period in the …